Pianist Thelonius Monk was the most mystical and mysterious of the jazz creators of bebop.

He was a cerebral pianist whose compositions and improvisations seem more impressive today than in his own era. Back in the 1940s and 1950s most observers - not his fellow musicians, but jazz writers and critics - thought him too esoteric. An eccentric, even untalented pretender.

Only in retrospect has what the cognoscenti knew then become obvious to most listeners today, that Monk was a musician of blazing originality who never compromised his music for quick popularity and who followed only his own tightly focused goals.

This documentary gives a pretty rounded account of his life and music, especially impressive is the rounding-up of so much evidence on film of his playing. These are meaty filmed records of his art - Monk looks extraordinary as he plays and stamps and dances - but the music is always highly disciplined and supremely logical, shiveringly perfect.

The documentary cites friends and family in its attempt to reach past the public persona to present a rounded portrait of Thelonius Monk as a man. But despite the makers' best attempts, Monk remains very much an enigma. The documentary presents us with the image of a man who seemed at the end of his life to be carrying the burden of a lifetime's failure. The music recorded here shows that this failure existed only in his estimation of himself, for the music shows brilliance.

The quality is reasonably good for film and video material spanning three decades from the 1940s onwards. It is not outstanding in its quality and suffers quite a bit at times from wear, but is never poor enough to prevent the story being told clearly and effectively. It is mostly black and white, with some more modern colour interview footage. The colour footage quality is poor but tolerable - muddy and soft.

Sound is excellent throughout, with clarity, richness and warmth of the basically mono music. Even though it's presented in a spurious Dolby Digital 5.1 surround soundtrack, it's not exaggerated and doesn't sound artificial.

Four teaser trailers for other documentaries in this Umbrella series are presented, for Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Count Basie and Bille Holiday. There's also a discography for Monk.